Wealth inequality-how it affects the economy

[MikeK]

so tax foreign goods so they cost the same as us goods....forcing us folks to pay more or buy america right.....

Sounds all warm and fuzzy, on the surface, but these are still small American businesses trying to maximize their profits.
It would wind up punishing Mom and Pop more than helping them.

It worked back in the '50s, what's changed since then?

If you're not aware of the important changes which have been imposed on our economic system since the 1950s you are in need of some basic education. I recommend that you start with the effects of Reaganomics.

 

[MaggieMae]

MM's definition of functional must mean that people who normally have a lower standard of living were able to live it up on (tax payer back stopped) debt until the piper came a callin' for his pay.

Yeah, that's it. Idiot...

Well????

Instead of refuting someone else's definition, you might provide your own.

She's being cute, which is her MO when she runs out of credible points. I've been refuting throughout. Have you? Or did you come here just to play little word games...grow the fuck up.

 

[The Rabbi]

Ya lets seize everyone's money over say 2 million and let the Government redistribute it. You guys are such idiots. Envy is ugly.

Not two million. Twenty million.

And if you understood the damage that unconstrained accumulation of assets has done and is doing to this country you wouldn't be accusing those of us who do understand it of being envious. And the idiocy belongs to those who think there is nothing wrong with some Americans accumulating multi-billion dollar fortunes while millions of others are slowly being reduced to poverty.

Of course I envy anyone who has managed to acquire twenty million dollars worth of assets and I wish I could do it. But beyond that level wealth becomes the kind of power which has corrupted our political system and is transforming our democracy into a monarchy. I do not envy that kind of power. I fear it -- as do all good Americans.


"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime." (Honore de Balzac)

There is no damage. the only damage is to the egos of those who can't or won't work as hard as those who do.

 

[MikeK]

You know............I like the way the Japanese do it. A CEO cannot make more that 100 times the salary of their lowest employee.

[...]

The problem is the ignorant authoritarian submissives who think of themselves as "conservatives" would denounce any such imposition as communist oppression. At the very base of America's most menacing problems is the stupidity of a relatively large number of Americans.

We need a law against ignorance if we are to pull out of this downward spiral.

 

[MikeK]

wealth gap is far superior to no wealth at all. Our country has the most rich by far and the easiest path to getting rich.

Back the hell up off away with your death taxes.

Corp america has made 8 million millionaires no country comes close. Taking that path away is retardatioooon.

Do you actually believe that inequitable distribution of the Nation's wealth is an indicator of healthy productivity? If that were true the economically healthiest period in American history was the era of slavery. That was really good -- for some, but not for others.

Kinda like the way things are headed now.

 

[MikeK]

Corporate tax hikes is what's changed since 1950, btw, MrClean

You need to understand that there is a very simple way to control corporations that move their operations off-shore, and that way is to shut them out of the world's most massive consumer market -- the United States. The only reason that is not being done now is corporate influence over our corrupted government.

Tell those formerly American manufacturers who have moved their operations to foreign countries that their product are no longer welcome here and they will come scurrying back begging for forgiveness. All we need to do is restore the regulations over corporations that served to keep our economy strong until the corporate puppet Ronald Reagan commenced the destruction of America through a progressive seqence of deregulations. Clinton followed suit and the worst sonofabitch of all, Bush, put the finishing touches on it.

America has been and is being sold out by those whom we elect to serve us.

 

[MikeK]

Most corporations and millionaires don't pay their fair share of taxes.

They either evade taxes via lobbies, simply don't pay them, or move their operations overseas.

the point of a corporation is to disburse profits to owners employees and shareholders.....they in turn pay the taxes on the profits.....

since when is 33% on a million not a fair share .... how much would you like them to pay ....

In the example of Exxon/Mobil, whose profit last year was around $47 billion and whose taxes were zero -- I'd say a 90% tax bracket is appropriate.

What would you suggest?

 

[MikeK]

[nope... i say pass all the regulations you want....pass all the tariffs you want and raise taxes as high as you like.....create whatever rules you like it is you country....

but don't bitch when people choose to do business elsewhere.....

Which nation represents the most massive consumer market in the world?

What happens to a corporation whose products are hit with massive tariffs or, worse, is shut out of the American marketplace altogether?

Does America need GE, or does GE need America?

America's biggest problem is its government, which is so corrupt it doesn't dare make aggressive moves against any entity other than those which have never done us harm. That is problem Number One.

 

[maineman]

If I was buying property in Mexico, I'd be pretty concerned.

LOL

buying property in Mexico is my way of hedging that trend!

I assume that's because the wealth distribution in Mexico hasn't changed much since 1800.

even simple retired commanders like me can live like landed gentry with "people" to do all the non-fun stuff!

 

[Samson]

LOL

buying property in Mexico is my way of hedging that trend!

I assume that's because the wealth distribution in Mexico hasn't changed much since 1800.

even simple retired commanders like me can live like landed gentry with "people" to do all the non-fun stuff!

That's what I mean: 1800 class standards remain in effect in 2010, and can be extrapolated to 2100.

Sounds Fantastic!

 

[Againsheila]

Ya lets seize everyone's money over say 2 million and let the Government redistribute it. You guys are such idiots. Envy is ugly.

Not two million. Twenty million.

And if you understood the damage that unconstrained accumulation of assets has done and is doing to this country you wouldn't be accusing those of us who do understand it of being envious. And the idiocy belongs to those who think there is nothing wrong with some Americans accumulating multi-billion dollar fortunes while millions of others are slowly being reduced to poverty.

Of course I envy anyone who has managed to acquire twenty million dollars worth of assets and I wish I could do it. But beyond that level wealth becomes the kind of power which has corrupted our political system and is transforming our democracy into a monarchy. I do not envy that kind of power. I fear it -- as do all good Americans.


"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime." (Honore de Balzac)

There is no damage. the only damage is to the egos of those who can't or won't work as hard as those who do.

Baloney. Most of the richest people in this nation inherited their wealthy, they sure as heck didn't "work" for it. And many of those who have worked, started out at the top, not the bottom. You show me one rich person today who started out in the fields picking berries. Who worked as a maid or janitor. Just one. Then tell me again how the wealthy are working and the rest of us are just lazy.

 

[maineman]

I assume that's because the wealth distribution in Mexico hasn't changed much since 1800.

even simple retired commanders like me can live like landed gentry with "people" to do all the non-fun stuff!

That's what I mean: 1800 class standards remain in effect in 2010, and can be extrapolated to 2100.

Sounds Fantastic!

and... you will admit that, unlike Mexico, our distribution is not remaining static and, if the current trend is extrapolated, 10% of the population will soon own damned near everything and the rest of the citizens of the US will be paupers owing their souls to the company store.

 

[Againsheila]

even simple retired commanders like me can live like landed gentry with "people" to do all the non-fun stuff!

That's what I mean: 1800 class standards remain in effect in 2010, and can be extrapolated to 2100.

Sounds Fantastic!

and... you will admit that, unlike Mexico, our distribution is not remaining static and, if the current trend is extrapolated, 10% of the population will soon own damned near everything and the rest of the citizens of the US will be paupers owing their souls to the company store.

I look around, and I think we're already there.

 

[The Rabbi]

Not two million. Twenty million.

And if you understood the damage that unconstrained accumulation of assets has done and is doing to this country you wouldn't be accusing those of us who do understand it of being envious. And the idiocy belongs to those who think there is nothing wrong with some Americans accumulating multi-billion dollar fortunes while millions of others are slowly being reduced to poverty.

Of course I envy anyone who has managed to acquire twenty million dollars worth of assets and I wish I could do it. But beyond that level wealth becomes the kind of power which has corrupted our political system and is transforming our democracy into a monarchy. I do not envy that kind of power. I fear it -- as do all good Americans.


"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime." (Honore de Balzac)

There is no damage. the only damage is to the egos of those who can't or won't work as hard as those who do.

Baloney. Most of the richest people in this nation inherited their wealthy, they sure as heck didn't "work" for it. And many of those who have worked, started out at the top, not the bottom. You show me one rich person today who started out in the fields picking berries. Who worked as a maid or janitor. Just one. Then tell me again how the wealthy are working and the rest of us are just lazy.

That's of course not true. It is not even remotely true.
How many Rockefellers are on the Forbes 400?

 

[Againsheila]

There is no damage. the only damage is to the egos of those who can't or won't work as hard as those who do.

Baloney. Most of the richest people in this nation inherited their wealthy, they sure as heck didn't "work" for it. And many of those who have worked, started out at the top, not the bottom. You show me one rich person today who started out in the fields picking berries. Who worked as a maid or janitor. Just one. Then tell me again how the wealthy are working and the rest of us are just lazy.

That's of course not true. It is not even remotely true.
How many Rockefellers are on the Forbes 400?

You made the statement, prove it. Show me ONE wealthy person that started out as a maid or janitor, or worked in the fields? Just one. The fact is the hardest working people in the USA are not the wealthy, they are those of us on the lower end of the scale.

 

[Samson]

even simple retired commanders like me can live like landed gentry with "people" to do all the non-fun stuff!

That's what I mean: 1800 class standards remain in effect in 2010, and can be extrapolated to 2100.

Sounds Fantastic!

and... you will admit that, unlike Mexico, our distribution is not remaining static and, if the current trend is extrapolated, 10% of the population will soon own damned near everything and the rest of the citizens of the US will be paupers owing their souls to the company store.

By "soon" I'm thinking 30-40 years.

Or about the time for me to exit, stage left.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

You know............I like the way the Japanese do it. A CEO cannot make more that 100 times the salary of their lowest employee.

[...]

The problem is the ignorant authoritarian submissives who think of themselves as "conservatives" would denounce any such imposition as communist oppression. At the very base of America's most menacing problems is the stupidity of a relatively large number of Americans.

We need a law against ignorance if we are to pull out of this downward spiral.

You want the Government to steal peoples money and have the gall to complain about conservatives defending liberty?

 

[Sky Dancer]

We are the government. We the people, remember?

 

[maineman]

That's what I mean: 1800 class standards remain in effect in 2010, and can be extrapolated to 2100.

Sounds Fantastic!

and... you will admit that, unlike Mexico, our distribution is not remaining static and, if the current trend is extrapolated, 10% of the population will soon own damned near everything and the rest of the citizens of the US will be paupers owing their souls to the company store.

By "soon" I'm thinking 30-40 years.

Or about the time for me to exit, stage left.

if you do the extrapolation from the two dates in the OP, it will happen a lot sooner than that. You'd either better figure out a way to get in that top 10% and hold your position, or move to Mexico with me!

 

[hortysir]

You know............I like the way the Japanese do it. A CEO cannot make more that 100 times the salary of their lowest employee.

Wanna stimulate the economy? Tell the greedy fucks at the top to stop shipping jobs overseas, and actually bring the factories over here.

Oh wait......can't happen.......the CEO's mistress needs a new Bentley to keep her quiet.

Oh wait.....that can't happen, either......the bottom wage-earners are so filled with envy against corporations that they vote for jugheads that think it's ok to tax the shit out of companies so as to run them off to where it's cheaper to operate.

Corporate tax hikes is what's changed since 1950, btw, MrClean

That would be wrong, too.

Study says most corporations pay no U.S. income taxes | Reuters

True, they absorb it better by passing it along.
All businesses, large and small, do the same thing. Obviously not on the same scale since they're not taxed at the same rate.
I'm in favor of whatever maximizes their profits.
I'm not going to demonize one over the other.